


a little less conversation

by invaderssayni



Series: it's times like these [3]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Black & White | Pokemon Black and White Versions
Genre: Artistic Liberties, Ghetsis is... Ghetsis, I Heard You Like Clichés, M/M, Panic Attacks, Relic Castle, Surprise Kissing, Touya's an ass but in a loving sort of way
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-04
Updated: 2016-07-04
Packaged: 2018-07-20 00:45:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7384252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/invaderssayni/pseuds/invaderssayni
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He’s pretty sure there’s something important they were supposed to be doing that isn’t kissing, but he can’t for the life of him recall what it was.</p>
            </blockquote>





	a little less conversation

Of course this would happen to him, Cheren muses darkly. Who else goes into Relic Castle, gets tripped by a yamask, falls directly into a sand trap, and lands flat on his backside on a lower floor? At least the ridiculous things that happen to Touya sound like they belong in some fantasy novel. Meanwhile, there’s Cheren off in the corner, making an idiot of himself as usual. He sighs. At least no one was around to see it this time.

“You alright, Cheren?”

Well, it was a nice thought, anyway. “I’ll live,” he says flatly, looking around. There aren’t any Plasma members in this area of the ruins, which means he must have gotten lost somehow. Figures. “Where are we?”

“Call it a shortcut,” Alder says, pulling him up. “Solaris came from these ruins, you know, and so did her predecessor, so I’m pretty familiar with the layout.” He scoffs. “Well, at least more than Plasma seems to be.”

“That’s probably a good thing,” Cheren says, frowning. “Imagine what else is hidden down here.”

The champion shrugs, leading the way down a set of stairs. “They haven’t found anything outside of the main structure from what I can tell. You know you can get to Castelia if you follow these hallways? The ruins almost reach all the way to Driftveil in the opposite direction, too.”

“Wow,” he says, looking at some strange markings on the walls. “Is it just tunnels?”

Alder pauses, turning to look at him. “Well, the main structure we’re in is the ruins of a castle. Drayden or Lenora could probably tell you more, I’m more of a hobbyist, but back in ancient times the Harmonia family —” Cheren groans reflexively, and Alder nods sympathetically “— I know, everything comes back to them, doesn’t it? Basically, this castle and the ruins off the coast of Undella belonged to the ancient Harmonias.”

“So… what, Ghetsis thinks he’s supposed to be supreme ruler of Unova or whatever the hell his plan is because his ancestors were royal?” Cheren says, leaning against a large stone block near the wall.

A shrug. “Probably. He also thinks he’s genuinely better than everyone else.” Alder rolls his eyes. “We should probably get on, though. All the good stuff’s deeper in the ruins, so if we’re going to get to the stone before they do...”

“Yeah.” He sighs and pushes himself up. “Lead the way.”

 

It feels like they’ve been wandering the ruins for hours, and they’re no closer to finding any sort of light-coloured stones larger than sand, never mind the Light Stone. 

Alder runs a hand through his hair in frustration. “It should be down here. There’s no reason for it to not be down here! There’s only two levels left of the main structure, it’s got to be down there somewhere.”

“You keep saying that,” Cheren drawls. “What if it’s not, in fact, down here?”

“Then I’m going to track down Ghetsis myself and set him on fire,” he says sweetly. “We need to go down this quicksand to get to the next level, by the way.”

Alder slides down the pit like he’s been doing it all his life, somehow managing to look graceful as he descends, and Cheren sighs. _So_ unfair. “Touya’s probably fighting Plasma grunts right now,” he grumbles, heading for the quicksand. “All I get to fight is…” he pauses. Was that a sparkle across the room? “Hey, Alder?” he calls out. 

There’s no response from below.

Whatever. Crossing the room, he tries to discern the shape of the object. It looks round. Maybe...? He speeds up unconsciously as he squints into the corner. What the hell is it?

He recognises the object just as his foot slips sideways. Damn it. 

“Why are there TM discs in here?” he shouts in frustration as he falls into a sand trap for the second time that day.

 

Cheren collides with something on his way down, knocking it to the ground. (He hopes he didn’t just break some priceless relic…)

“You know, we’ve really got to stop meeting like this,” Alder says, amusement clear in his voice.

He winces. Of course. Because it’s not bad enough that he falls through a sand trap in front of Alder, oh no. No, he has to do it twice, and also land directly on top of him in the most awkward position possible, because Arceus forbid he ever look remotely cool.

“Oh my god,” he whines into the older man’s hair, completely mortified. “I am so, so sorry, are you okay?”

Cheren hears a warm chuckle — god, he loves Alder’s laugh — and bites his lip as a hand pats him reassuringly on the nape of his neck. 

“’S alright, I’ve had worse. What were you yelling about up there?”

He pushes himself up on his elbows and makes himself look Alder in the eye. “I thought I saw something that…” He trails off, blinking. Oh, that was a bad idea. What was he saying? “Your eyes are purple,” he says faintly.

“Yeah,” Alder breathes.

A series of small things happen near-simultaneously: Alder’s hand tightens noticeably in Cheren’s hair; Cheren’s breath catches in his throat; Alder’s eyes widen. Neither of them look away.

Then Alder blinks, and before Cheren realises what’s happening he darts forward and captures the man’s lips with his own. He hears a startled noise and tenses slightly, but instead of shoving him off, Alder pulls him closer, deepening the kiss. His other arm comes up to wrap around Cheren’s waist, and he can’t hold back a soft whimper — Alder’s just so warm and he has those broad, muscular forearms, and dear Arceus he just wants to continue on like this forever —

Then Alder freezes, and before he can blink, Cheren finds himself flat on his backside in the sand for the third time that day as Alder spouts rapid-fire apologies interspersed with the occasional swear word.

Cheren just looks at him like he’s an idiot.

“Alder,” he says patiently, sitting up, “you’re being an idiot.”

“No, look, I took advantage—“

“Like hell you did,” he scoffs, and gestures at the rather large space now between them. “You call this taking advantage?”

Alder pauses. ”Yes?” 

“You are completely ridiculous,” Cheren sighs, rolling his eyes. 

There is a beat of silence, then two, then: 

“Can I kiss you again?”

“Uh,” Alder says hesitantly, but before he can think too hard about all the reasons this is probably a terrible idea, Cheren’s climbing in his lap and looking up at him through his eyelashes and he sees what remains of the man’s scruples dissolve instantly.

Just one more kiss. Maybe two, tops.

 

A few moments later, someone whistles and shouts, “Get it, Cheren!”, startling both of the room’s occupants. Cheren jumps reflexively, accomplishing nothing but accidentally yanking on Alder’s hair and knocking them both off balance. 

“I’m so sorry,” a horrified Cheren says, as Alder falls over laughing. “Touya, I am going to murder you, so help me.”

“I’ve been fighting Team Plasma members for the past hour, and here you are, too busy making out to help me. I see how it is,” Touya teases. “Hi, Alder.”

Alder waves as he gets up. “Hope you found the Light Stone, because we’ve got nothing so far.”

“I wish,” Touya scoffs. “Nah, but I saw a staircase heading downward back that way.”

“There’s a tomb or something down there,” Alder says, pulling Cheren to his feet. “That could be where it’s hiding.”

“If it’s even in here,” Cheren grumbles, “which I sincerely doubt.”

Touya rolls his eyes good-naturedly. “You know, I’d have thought getting a bit of action would make you less of a grumpy old man, and yet…” He ducks a sideswipe and snickers. “But for real, though, we need to find this stone thingy or we’re all boned, right? And it’s as likely to be here as anywhere else.”

Cheren makes a face at Touya, but dutifully follows the other two out of the room and down the staircase. He pauses halfway down, a thought having occurred to him.

“Did either of you bother asking the resident historians of the region? You know, the ones who probably knew this stone existed for more than a few hours?”

Touya shrugs, nodding at Alder. “I just followed him. And then I got here and Plasma was here, so I figured it was a pretty safe bet there’s at least something important.”

“It was this, or deep-sea diving in Undella Bay,” Alder says, staring at the sand pit at the bottom of the staircase. “Anyone else have a bad feeling all of a sudden?”

“I hate these sand traps,” Cheren mutters.

They gather around the hole, staring at it in wary silence. 

Finally, Alder speaks up. “I’ll go ahead. You two make sure your pokemon are battle-ready, alright? I don’t know what’s down there, but I’m pretty sure it’s nothing good.”

He slips down the quicksand, leaving Touya and Cheren in the small room.

“Do you need any revival herbs? Leppa berries?” Cheren asks, rummaging through his bag. “I think my team’s okay, more or less, but…”

“If you have some spare leppas and moomoo milks, that’d be great,” Touya says gratefully. “There’s too many Plasma members; I walked in here with a bunch of healing items and now I’m nearly out.”

“Sorry,” Cheren says, wincing, as he hands them over. “I’d have helped, really, but I got lost —“

Touya waves a hand dismissively as he begins seeing to his team. “Nah, it’s fine. Good training for the last gym, yeah?”

He makes a noncommittal noise, nudging some sand into a pile with his shoe. He doesn’t really want to go down without Touya, but he’s worried about what Alder’s found down there, but he IS the champion after all…

“Come on, Cherry, I can hear you worrying from all the way over here,” Touya teases, steadily feeding his samurott leppa berries. “It’ll be fine.”

He ignores the nickname. “How are you so calm about this?”

“Plasma’s been on me since we started, remember? This is just another Tuesday for me,” Touya says, recalling his samurott. “Shall we?”

 

Cheren actually manages to land on his feet for once, and he’s proud of himself for all of a minute before noticing the situation in the room. 

Alder is staring down Ghetsis — Arceus, but Cheren hates that creepy, snuggie-wearing cultist — and Touya is already making his way over to the pair, a hand reaching for a poké ball.

“Hey, none of that,” Alder shouts, giving them a warning look. “Come over here, both of you.”

They approach the pair warily, and Cheren has the distinct impression they’re interrupting something.

“Well, now, it appears that everyone is here,” Ghetsis observes in a darkly amused tone. “Attempting to find the Light Stone, perhaps?”

Cheren groans. “I told both of you it wasn’t here!”

“Quite.” Ghetsis nods at him, then focuses on Touya. “Now then, you are Touya Black, correct? Rumour has it you have been chosen by our king.”

Touya shrugs. “Technically I chose him, but go on.”

“Oh my god, Touya,” Cheren mutters, facepalming.

“Regardless,” Ghetsis continues, narrowing his eyes, “if you desire to perpetuate the current status quo, you must acquire the other legendary dragon-type pokémon and battle our king. Else Team Plasma will liberate everyone’s pokémon and trainers will cease to exist.” Alder snorts at this, and Ghetsis raises an eyebrow. “Yes?”

“This coming from a man who runs a maxed frustration set on his hydreigon, which hates him so much it bit his arm off. Yeah, I’m sure you care so much about the suffering of pokemon. But that’s none of my business,” Alder says with a shrug.

Touya and Cheren look at each other in astonishment — they know each other?

Ghetsis takes a step forward. “Hmm, yes… Champion Alder… I seem to recall that ten years ago a serious illness took the pokémon that had been your partner for so long. And, correct me if I’m wrong, I believe that was around the same time your marriage fell apart, yes? And ever since, you’ve been wandering the Unova region alone — ”

Alder smiles dangerously. “Melody went on an extended vacation to Alola, did she? I hear you’re still seducing people a fraction of your age and using them in your schemes; isn’t Colress only a few years older than your son?”

“The hell is Colress?” Touya mouths at Cheren, who shrugs in response.

“Do I detect a hint of jealousy?” Ghetsis murmurs silkily, barely louder than a whisper. “It’s been twenty years, dear heart, surely not.”

“Don’t flatter yourself,” he replies coldly. “Some of us — “

“Girls, girls, you’re both pretty,” Touya interrupts impatiently. “Can we get back to me? The Light Stone? Something relevant?”

Ghetsis retreats to a respectable distance in a swirl of robes and hair, muttering about vulgarity and kids these days. 

Cheren approaches Alder cautiously, taking hold of his hand in a silent gesture of comfort. His lips twitch in a semblance of a grin, and he squeezes the younger man’s hand in return. 

“Of course, there is no point in you returning to the League,” Ghetsis adds, an edge to his voice. “Our king has determined that victory against you is assured.”

Touya throws his hands up and groans. “No, it’s fine, I’ll wait. You go ahead and hash out all your personal drama. It’s not like there’s a time-sensitive deadline or anything.”

“Speak for yourself, I want to hear this,” Cheren mutters, nodding at the two bickering men.

Alder raises an eyebrow. “So, what, you’re just trying to make me look bad? To what end?”

“Hardly,” Ghetsis says, his voice softening. “I am doing this out of kindness.”

Alder barks out a laugh. “Kindness? You?” he asks incredulously.

“Of course. I’m making sure the Champion isn’t needlessly harmed. Although…” Ghetsis pauses, a glint in his eye, and moves to leave. 

“Great. Message received. Bye, now,” Alder says pointedly.

Ghetsis chuckles and rests his hand on Alder’s shoulder on his way past, causing him to flinch. “Granted, the moment when someone loses all hope? I do love to watch that moment.”

“What a nice old man, I can’t imagine where all these rude accusations come from,” Cheren quips, watching as Ghetsis retreats.

“The fuck,” Touya says flatly, shaking his head. “I can only assume N was left on Ghetsis’s doorstep as an egg. Nothing else makes sense.”

Cheren feels a pull on his arm and turns around; Alder is now sitting on the ground, eyes closed, breathing rapidly — “What’s… are you having a panic attack?” He drops to the ground next to him. “Are you going to be alright? Can I help, or…?”

Alder makes a face that is probably meant to be a reassuring smile, but looks more like a grimace. “’S fine,” he says faintly. 

“Uh huh,” he says dubiously. “Maybe we should get outside. I doubt I’ll be much help if you hyperventilate yourself into a coma.”

He huffs out a laugh between breaths. “Might be for the best. ’S hard to breathe down here.”

“Alder…” Cheren is suddenly overcome with emotions he can’t quite pin down, and he bites his lip, turning away abruptly to rummage through his bag for an escape rope. (He glances over to ask Touya if he has a spare, only to find he’s already gone. Figures.) His fingers brush against the rough coil wedged under a layer of coffee shop receipts and a bunch of items he hasn’t found a use for — seriously, where is the move tutor, he’s got like twenty heart scales — when a gentle touch brushes his arm. 

Cheren looks up at Alder, wishing he knew what to do or say to make him feel better. He offers him the other end of the rope with a small smile, but instead of simply taking the rope, Alder pulls him into a fraught, desperate embrace, holding Cheren so tightly he wonders for a moment if the man will ever let him go. (He finds that idea isn’t as distasteful as he feels it probably should be.)

He snuggles into the man’s poncho as they warp out of the ruins.

**Author's Note:**

> Happy MURRKAH day, have some fic set in Poké-MURRKAH. :V
> 
> I'M SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG OMG I was having the hardest time with some parts in this. The next couple parts should (key word being SHOULD) take less time than this one. Hopefully.
> 
> Yeah, uh... I wasn't really planning on having their relationship move so quickly, but my friend was like "okay, I know you were going to have this dramatic scene where they have their first kiss at the League but like... what if... you made them kiss now" and I'm just like "damn u right" so cheers KP this one's for you.
> 
> I kind of based Touya and Cheren's friendship on a lot of my real-life friendships, i.e. constantly giving each other shit but in a loving sort of way. 
> 
> Also, the LOUDLY IMPLIED past relationship was a) because I recently replayed Black version and holy god Ghetsis is a massive saltlord in Relic Castle I'd forgotten and b) because I was talking to a tumblr friend about Unova ships and she brought this one up and. Well. Honestly I started just wanting to have Alder and Ghetsis pulling receipts on each other from twenty years ago because I thought it'd be funny and the relationship kind of wrote itself, and gave me a new plotline to follow through a few of the upcoming instalments.


End file.
